Hello again I wanted to seek your advice on a situation im exploring at the mo. I was very involved with a non duality training called balanced view for 2.5 years and it beautifully introduced me to my true nature and also a lovely warm group of people which i ll be forever greatful for. Within the last year quite a lot of the community have left the training for various different reasons but for me it was getting way to inclusive and exclusive and i was become very dependent on my teacher who we re encouraged to write to weekly. For a training that was supposed to be about not having fixed ideas it has alots of beliefs in it e.g. Balanced View is the only way you ll achieve enlightenment, without Balanced View you ll be screwed. Alot of fear going on.

I left the training a year ago and treated it like a breakup where i just ignored everyone and everything to do with it and its only now that i wish to harmonise my relationship towards it and perhaps go to a few meetings and see how that feels.

So my main question is this when I was very involved my desire to write songs and sing (which is my biggest passion) seem to die off, I wrote one song in 2 years. However when I left I wrote 7 in the last year. I also know a very talented and quite famous writer who spent a season with the training sent a draft of a new book to his publisher and they said it was rubbish. Likewise another great singer songwriter I know didnt write a song for a year when he was involved, left and he could write again. There is a lot of deliberate repetiton in the trainings, talks and texts and it subtely brainwashes you. So between that and not being able to decide things for yourself you become very dependent on the structure.

I wondered what you take on this was, especially the part of not feeling motivated and following stuff that you know your very passionate about. I see alot of the community just pouring their energy into the training and not necessarily following their hearts.

You raise a valid concern. It's not all that infrequent that some approaches to conscious awakening can lead to a kind of isolation from life. Balance matters. This human experience exists for more than just a neutered non-engaged life. Interactions and exploration of human possibilities has value.

While I certainly agree and subscribe to a period of focusing on clarity in the present moment, once a clear familiarity with being is (re)gained, an active engagement with life in the human experience then offers a richness that surpasses the quality known before that familiarity was realized.

If your instincts are telling you that a given life experience is not what is best, you may want to listen. Again, I suggest that balance is important. Either one exclusively without the other seems likely to be problematic.

I remember that Candice O'Denver got some positive attention on this forum 8 or 9 years ago for her 'short moments' idea. I checked out the balanced view website and was amazed to see the idea had exploded into such a huge movement. As with many teachers, she started out with a simple, pure idea and it seems to have gotten very complex over time. I believe that those trying to understand the simplicity of the initial teaching make it complex as the teacher tries to further elucidate, using language to explain what needs to be experienced directly. This happens over and over again as 'spirituality' becomes an industry of complexity and endless digression away from a very simple idea. It becomes a matter of style, taste and language rather than the core immutable truth. There is a lot of personal and collective investment in staying away from the truth. The teacher can take us straight there, but the teaching will take us straight away from there.

I believe that we need to reduce a teaching to its core simplicity, be it Tolle, Ramana, O'Denver, or whomever, and stick with that without being distracted by further elucidation and chatter The reduction often comes down to: I am here, I exist (unchanging), I am. And feel that existence for brief moments in a repeated fashion. Simple. Trust it. Explanations will become unnecessary as your relationship with life becomes more direct, satisfying.

Onceler wrote:I remember that Candice O'Denver got some positive attention on this forum 8 or 9 years ago for her 'short moments' idea. I checked out the balanced view website and was amazed to see the idea had exploded into such a huge movement. As with many teachers, she started out with a simple, pure idea and it seems to have gotten very complex over time. I believe that those trying to understand the simplicity of the initial teaching make it complex as the teacher tries to further elucidate, using language to explain what needs to be experienced directly. This happens over and over again as 'spirituality' becomes an industry of complexity and endless digression away from a very simple idea. It becomes a matter of style, taste and language rather than the core immutable truth. There is a lot of personal and collective investment in staying away from the truth. The teacher can take us straight there, but the teaching will take us straight away from there.

I believe that we need to reduce a teaching to its core simplicity, be it Tolle, Ramana, O'Denver, or whomever, and stick with that without being distracted by further elucidation and chatter The reduction often comes down to: I am here, I exist (unchanging), I am. And feel that existence for brief moments in a repeated fashion. Simple. Trust it. Explanations will become unnecessary as your relationship with life becomes more direct, satisfying.

Similar thoughts here, Onceler. I came across Candice O'Denver about ten years ago and resonated with her straightforward pointers which resembled a simplified version of Dzogchen (a Tibetan school of Buddhism.) I was surprised to encounter this current manifestation with its three series of training, four mainstays, twelve empowerments and other hierarchical stages etc. And what's with that introductory video with all those shiny, smiley people… not a gnarled fifty-something anywhere in sight.

Thanks for all your feedback guys, it seems that the training has changed quite a bit over the years and although the people involved seem very happy and at peace with themselves theres is a subtle controlling filtering down from the powers above and im not sure if this is ultimate freedom or Great Freedom I see so many good things about the organisation e.g. the essence of the training itself , you can walk into your first meeting and instantly feel the purity of presence , that relaxed ease, its amazing. The community themselves are very openhearted and some of the most loving people i have ever met. I just think we are all equal and that although we can seek advice and guidance from more experiences people we should be able to trust our hearts and judgements. The training did and maybe still does have so much potential but is perhaps not so attractive to newcomers anymore as its become more rigid and structured.